Mental Olympics – #4

This summer has been the most intellectually exhausting “break” of my academic career. While working 30+ hours a week in my MCDB/Anatomy lab, I have been simultaneously studying for the MCAT. With only a couple weeks left in my lab and a month left in my MCAT preparations, I’m starting to feel some burnout. Despite the mental fatigue, my resolve remains solid. I am enjoying my research, and I genuinely feel, dare I say, more intelligent than I did at the beginning of summer. There is something to be said of the summer vacation “intelligence-loss” effect. Usually after a 3-4 month hiatus from school-work, I tend to start the Fall semester feeling mentally sluggish, rather than refreshed. This summer, however, has felt like a mental Olympics, in which I’ve been routinely working out my brain. My memory is sharper and my MCAT preparation has solidified a plethora of once-forgotten scientific knowledge, all of which is useful in some way (usually). Oftentimes I find myself answering a scientific question for my lab’s principal investigator, or thinking of a research inquiry from a different standpoint, due in part to my test preparation. The synergy between my MCAT prep and my research have undeniably helped me along my quest in becoming a better scientist.